Receivers for analyzing and displaying sensor data

ABSTRACT

This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for processing, transmitting and displaying data received from an analyte sensor, such as a glucose sensor. The system may include a display device with at least one input device. In response to movement of or along the input device, the display device may change a glucose data output parameter and update an output of the display device using the changed output parameter.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Any and all priority claims identified in the Application Data Sheet, orany correction thereto, are hereby incorporated by reference under 37CFR 1.57. This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/026,163, filed Feb. 11, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/304,337, filed Feb. 12, 2010. Each of theaforementioned applications is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety, and each is hereby expressly made a part of thisspecification.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods forprocessing, transmitting and displaying data received from an analytesensor, such as a glucose sensor.

BACKGROUND

Diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which the pancreas cannot createsufficient insulin (Type I or insulin dependent) and/or in which insulinis not effective (Type 2 or non-insulin dependent). In the diabeticstate, the victim suffers from high blood sugar, which causes an arrayof physiological derangements (kidney failure, skin ulcers, or bleedinginto the vitreous of the eye) associated with the deterioration of smallblood vessels. A hypoglycemic reaction (low blood sugar) may be inducedby an inadvertent overdose of insulin, or after a normal dose of insulinor glucose-lowering agent accompanied by extraordinary exercise orinsufficient food intake.

Conventionally, a diabetic person carries a self-monitoring bloodglucose (SMBG) monitor, which typically requires uncomfortable fingerpricking methods. Due to the lack of comfort and convenience, a diabeticwill normally only measure his or her glucose level two to four timesper day. Unfortunately, these time intervals are spread so far apartthat the diabetic will likely find out too late, sometimes incurringdangerous side effects, of a hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic condition. Infact, it is not only unlikely that a diabetic will take a timely SMBGvalue, but additionally the diabetic will not know if his blood glucosevalue is going up (higher) or down (lower) based on conventionalmethods.

Consequently, a variety of non-invasive, transdermal (e.g.,transcutaneous) and/or implantable electrochemical sensors are beingdeveloped for continuously detecting and/or quantifying blood glucosevalues. These devices generally transmit raw or minimally processed datafor subsequent analysis at a remote device, which can include a display.

SUMMARY

Various implementations of systems, methods and devices within the scopeof the appended claims each have several aspects, no single one of whichis solely responsible for the desirable attributes described herein.Without limiting the scope of the appended claims, some prominentfeatures are described herein.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will becomeapparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note thatthe relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn toscale.

In one embodiment, a glucose monitoring system comprises a displaydevice configured to receive displayable sensor information from asensor electronics module physically connected to a continuous analytesensor. The display device may comprise a storage device configured tostore at least some of the displayable sensor information, a display;and at least one input device. The display device is configured todetect movement of or along the at least one input device, and isconfigured to change a glucose data output parameter in response to thedetected movement. Furthermore, the display device is configured toupdate an output of glucose data using the changed glucose data outputparameter.

In another embodiment, a computerized method for displaying glucoseinformation on a display device in a glucose monitoring system comprisesdetecting movement of or along at least one input device, changing aglucose data output parameter in response to the detected movement, andupdating an output of the display device using the glucose data outputparameter.

In another embodiment, a computer readable medium has stored thereoninstructions that when executed by a processor in a glucose monitoringsystem comprising a display device with at least one input device, causethe processor to detect movement of or along the at least one inputdevice, change a glucose data output parameter in response to thedetected movement, and update an output of the display device using thechanged glucose data output parameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a top view of an exemplary touch sensitivereceiver displaying various information associated with sensor data.

FIG. 1A shows an example of a glucose chart showing glucose levels of ahost over a determined time period.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show examples of top views of two different exemplaryreceivers having substantially circular touch sensitive input devices.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the receiver of FIG. 2A with a glucose chartand other data associated with sensor data and receiver attributes shownon the display.

FIG. 4 shows an example illustrating four user interfaces that may bedisplayed on a receiver at four different points in time.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a user interface including a six hour glucosechart as well as a short-term glucose change trend indicator.

FIG. 5A shows an example of a receiver that depicts a full screendisplay of a glucose chart that includes a short term chart overlaid ona long term chart.

FIG. 6A shows an example of a user interface that includes a trendindicator indicating a trend in glucose level changes over a differenttime period than is displayed on a chart.

FIG. 6B shows an example of a user interface that may be displayed on areceiver in response to the user selecting a status window.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a user interface including a glucose chartfor a three hour time period and a navigation bar that shows glucosedata over a longer time period.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of amethod of monitoring an input device in order to adjust a time period ofsensor data that is displayed on the device.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a touch sensitive receiver displaying a userinterface that allows a user to select an operation mode.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a flowchart illustrating an exemplary startup process that guides a user through an initial set-up of a receiver.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show an example of a device with a background displayshowing glucose information.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a display device including indicator lightsfor indicating information about the status of glucose levels oraccording to other system status information.

FIG. 13A shows an example of a light indicator device attached to theedge of a computer for indicating glucose information.

FIG. 13B shows an example of a light indicator device attached to asensor/transmitter device worn on a person's body for indicating glucoseinformation.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a portion of a user interface displaying aglucose level reading from a sensor.

FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of alarm volume levels which correspondto certain glucose level readings.

In accordance with common practice the various features illustrated inthe drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions ofthe various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity.In addition, some of the drawings may not depict all of the componentsof a given system, method or device. Finally, like reference numeralsmay be used to denote like features throughout the specification andfigures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of implementations within the scope of the appendedclaims are described below. It should be apparent that the aspectsdescribed herein may be implemented in a wide variety of forms and thatany specific structure and/or function described herein is merelyillustrative. Based on the present disclosure a person/one havingordinary skill in the art should appreciate that an aspect describedherein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and thattwo or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. Forexample, an apparatus may be implemented and/or a method may bepracticed using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition,such an apparatus may be implemented and/or such a method may bepracticed using other structure and/or functionality in addition to orother than one or more of the aspects set forth herein.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations. The following description ispresented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use theinvention. Details are set forth in the following description forpurpose of explanation. It should be appreciated that one of ordinaryskill in the art would realize that the invention may be practicedwithout the use of these specific details. In other instances, wellknown structures and processes are not elaborated in order not toobscure the description of the invention with unnecessary details. Thus,the present invention is not intended to be limited by theimplementations shown, but is to be accorded with the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

DEFINITIONS

In order to facilitate an understanding of the systems and methodsdiscussed herein, a number of terms are defined below. The terms definedbelow, as well as other terms used herein, should be construed toinclude the provided definitions, the ordinary and customary meaning ofthe terms, and any other implied meaning for the respective terms. Thus,the definitions below do not limit the meaning of these terms, but onlyprovide exemplary definitions.

The terms “processor module,” “microprocessor” and “processor” as usedherein are broad terms and are to be given their ordinary and customarymeaning to a person of ordinary skill in the art (and are not to belimited to a special or customized meaning), and furthermore referwithout limitation to a computer system, state machine, and the likethat performs arithmetic and logic operations using logic circuitry thatresponds to and processes instructions that drive a computer. Aprocessor may include a conventional processor, such as a processor of adesktop, notebook, or mobile computing devices; an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC); a field programmable gate array (FPGA); orany other suitable processing hardware.

The term “sensor” as used herein is a broad term and is to be given itsordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in the art(and is not to be limited to a special or customized meaning), andfurthermore refers without limitation to any device (or portion of adevice) that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signalthat can be processed by analog and/or digital circuitry, such as aprocessor. Thus, the output of a sensor may be an analog and/or digitalsignal. Examples of sensors include analyte sensors, glucose sensors,temperature sensors, altitude sensors, accelerometers, blood pressure,and heart rate (e.g., pulse) sensors.

The term “glucose sensor” as used herein is a broad term and is to begiven its ordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skillin the art (and are not to be limited to a special or customizedmeaning), and furthermore refer without limitation to any sensor bywhich glucose can be quantified (e.g., enzymatic or non-enzymatic). Forexample, some embodiments of a glucose sensor may utilize a membranethat contains glucose oxidase that catalyzes the conversion of oxygenand glucose to hydrogen peroxide and gluconate, as illustrated by thefollowing chemical reaction:

Glucose+O₂→Gluconate+H₂O₂

Because for each glucose molecule metabolized, there is a proportionalchange in the co-reactant O₂ and the product H₂O₂, one can use anelectrode to monitor the current change in either the co-reactant or theproduct to determine glucose concentration.

The term “sensor data”, as used herein is a broad term and is to begiven its ordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skillin the art (and are not to be limited to a special or customizedmeaning), and furthermore refers without limitation to any dataassociated with a sensor, such as a continuous analyte sensor, a pulsesensor, a temperature sensor, or any other biological or other sensor.In the case of a continuous analyte sensor, sensor data may include araw data stream, or simply data stream, of analog or digital signaldirectly related to a measured analyte from an analyte sensor (or othersignal received from another sensor), as well as calibrated and/orfiltered raw data. Sensor data may include calibrated data, smootheddata, filtered data, transformed data, and/or any other data associatedwith a sensor.

The term “algorithm” as used herein is a broad term and is to be givenits ordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in theart (and is not to be limited to a special or customized meaning), andfurthermore refers without limitation to a computational process(associated with computer programming or other written instructions)involved in transforming information from one state to another.

The term “substantially” as used herein is a broad term and is to begiven its ordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skillin the art (and is not to be limited to a special or customizedmeaning), and furthermore refers without limitation to being largely butnot necessarily wholly that which is specified.

The term “host” as used herein is a broad term and is to be given itsordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in the art(and is not to be limited to a special or customized meaning), andfurthermore refers without limitation to a mammal, such as a human, thatis implanted with a device, such as a sensor.

The term “continuous analyte sensor” as used herein is a broad term andis to be given its ordinary and customary meaning to a person ofordinary skill in the art (and is not to be limited to a special orcustomized meaning), and furthermore refers without limitation to adevice, or portion of a device, that continuously or continuallymeasures a concentration of an analyte, for example, at time intervalsranging from fractions of a second up to, for example, 1, 2, or 5minutes, or longer. In one exemplary embodiment, a glucose sensorcomprises a continuous analyte sensor, such as is described in U.S. Pat.No. 7,310,544, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

The term “alarm” as used herein is a broad term, and is to be given itsordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in the art(and is not to be limited to a special or customized meaning), andfurthermore refers without limitation to an alert or signal, such as anaudible, visual, and/or tactile signal, triggered in response to one ormore alarm conditions. For example, in one embodiment, hyperglycemic andhypoglycemic alarms are triggered when present or predicted clinicaldanger is assessed based on continuous analyte data.

The term “receiver” as used herein is a broad term, and is to be givenits ordinary and customary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in theart (and is not to be limited to a special or customized meaning), andfurthermore refers without limitation to a device that receives sensordata from a sensor, either directly from the sensor (e.g., via a wiredor wireless communication link) or indirectly from another device. Areceiver typically includes one or more processor, a computer readablestorage medium (such as one or more volatile and/or non-volatile storagedevice), one or more displays, and one or more input devices. Variousinput devices of a receiver are discussed below, some of which areintegrated into displays of receivers. In addition to includingcircuitry for communicating with one or more sensors, a receiver mayalso include communication circuitry for communicating with otherdevices, such as telephony circuitry that allows transmission of shortmessaging service (SMS) messages or voice communications, and/or anetwork interface that allows TCP/IP communications across one or morenetworks, including the Internet. A receiver typically executes softwarethat controls operations of the receiver.

Illustrative Receivers

FIG. 1 is a top view of an exemplary touch sensitive receiver 100displaying various information associated with sensor data from acontinuous blood glucose sensor. For example, the user interface 110displayed on the receiver 100 includes a three hour glucose chart 114, atrend direction indicator 120, a remaining battery life indicator 122, asignal strength indicator 124, and a navigation bar 126. In thisembodiment, the glucose chart 114 displays sensor data from a continuousanalyte sensor in a graph format. In one embodiment, the three hourperiod ends with the last sensor data received from the continuousglucose sensor by default. In some embodiments, the three hour period isselectable by the user (e.g., to select any previous three hour period),such as using any of the input devices discussed below. In someembodiments, the glucose chart 114 may include one or more tick marksand/or other indicia on the x-axis that provide indications of quantityand/or units that are displayed. For example, the x-axis may includeperiodic tick marks (and/or labels) that mark each hour (or any othertime period) of data illustrated.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the trend direction indicator 120 indicatesa current trend in the direction of the glucose levels of the host. Thetrend direction indicator 120 may indicate (by default) a trend over aset time period, such as 15 minutes. In certain embodiments, the timeperiod of sensor data considered in calculating the trend directionindicator 120 may be customized by the user of the receiver to includesensor data from any other time period. The signal strength indicator124 indicates strength of a communication signal between the receiver100 and one or more corresponding sensor(s). In an embodiment where thereceiver is in communication with multiple sensors, multiple signalstrength indicators may be included in a user interface displayed on thereceiver, and/or signal strength indicators for respective sensors maybe alternatively displayed on the receiver display. For example, thedisplay of a receiver may automatically cycle between the various signalstrength indicators at a predetermined interval, such as 2 or 5 seconds,or in response to a particular input from the input device, such as theuser touching a currently displayed signal strength depicted in a touchsensitive display indicator to indicate that a signal strength indicatorfor another sensor should be displayed in place of the currentindicator.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the navigation bar 126 displays glucoselevels of the host over an extended time period and allows a user of thereceiver 100 to easily change the time period for which sensor data isdisplayed in the glucose chart 114. FIG. 7 illustrates a similarnavigation bar and the discussion of FIG. 7, below, includes furtherdetails regarding operation and use of a navigation bar.

FIG. 1A illustrate the receiver 100 with a glucose chart 154 that coverssubstantially the entire display of the receiver 100 and includes anestimate of where the host's glucose level will go to in the future. Inone embodiment, glucose charts can be selected to fill the entire (orsubstantially the entire) display of a receiver, including the receiver100, 200, 410, 420, 430, and any other receiver, in response to anypredefined user input, such as tapping a displayed glucose chart in apredefined manner (e.g., a single or double tap, a pinch or spreadmotion on a touch sensitive display, or selections of a hardware buttonor other input device). Thus, more glucose data and/or details ofglucose data may be viewed by the user in response to activating a “fullscreen display” of a glucose chart. In one embodiment, when the displaycurrently shows the glucose chart in full screen mode (e.g. FIG. 1A),display of other information may be selectively overlaid on the displayin response to a predefined input by the user, such as moving a receiverwith one or more motion sensors (e.g., accelerometers) in a predefineddirection and/or pattern. Thus, the additional information in pane 116of FIG. 1 (that is not included in the full screen display of FIG. 1A)may be overlaid on the glucose chart of FIG. 1A by the predefined userinput, and removed from display by another predefined user input orafter a predetermined time, for example.

In some embodiments, any other pane, such as the pane 116 of FIG. 1 thatdisplays the trend direction indicator 120, the remaining battery lifeindicator 122, the signal strength indicator 124, and the navigation bar126, may be selected for full screen display by similar predefined userinputs discussed above. Additionally, in some embodiment, the user maycustomize the types of information that are displayed in certain panes,as well as customize which panes are selected for concurrent display. Insome embodiment, the user can also define an action for certain userinputs, such as whether a full screen display of the current glucosechart should appear in response to a particular user input or if a paneincluding current status information should be displayed on the display(e.g., in a pop-up window) in response to the particular user input. Inone embodiment, various panes that may be displayed on the receiver(e.g., various glucose charts, status windows, setup information,training information) may be moved about the display screen in order toallow customization of positions of the various panes. Thus, the usermay be provided with the ability to customize what is displayed on thereceiver at various times and in response to various inputs.

In the example of FIG. 1A, the glucose charts shows glucose levels of ahost over a time period of about 45 minutes. The current glucose levelof the host is shown by line 156 and a predicted range of future levelsis displayed to the right of the current level line 156. In oneembodiment, the most likely estimated glucose values are indicated byline 162, which may be determined in a realtime manner using any portionof previous glucose data of the host, as well as any other relevant dataregarding the host that the receiver has access to. In the embodiment ofFIG. 1A, a predicted variation of estimated glucose values are indicatedby an upper limit 164 and a lower limit 166, which together form a coneof possibilities for the host's glucose levels over a subsequent timeperiod (e.g., 15, 30, or 60 minutes or more). Depending on theembodiment, the cone of possibilities may be determined with varyingconfidence levels, such as a 95% confidence level that the host'sglucose level will be within the upper and lower limits 164, 166 in theestimated time period. In some embodiments, the user may be allowed toadjust the confidence level (either higher or lower than 95%), theestimated time period (e.g., between 5 minutes and 6 hours), and/orprovide additional information that might be used in calculating theestimated glucose levels (e.g., the user may have indicated a regularlyscheduled workout that occurs within a glucose estimation period suchthat the receiver compensates for the intended workout accordingly).U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/007,920, titled “Signal processingfor continuous analyte sensor,” which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety, describes further details regardingcalculation and display of estimated glucose values.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the receiver 100 comprises hardware thatallows the user to control operations of the receiver 100 by touchingthe display of the receiver 100. Thus, the input device of the receiver100 is part of, or is coupled directly to, the display of the receiver100. For example, the receiver 100 may include a touch sensitive surfacethat is resistive or capacitive, or that uses surface acoustic waves todetermine when an object (e.g., a user's finger, a stylus, or otherobject) touches or is very close to the display. Many touch sensitivedisplays may also determine a force applied by the touching (e.g.,determine whether the user softly touched the display or pushed hard onthe display), a direction, speed, and/or acceleration of movement of auser's finger across the display, and/or whether multiple locations onthe display are touched. Each of these attributes of a user'sinterfacing with a touch sensitive display may be used to indicatevariations on commands associated with a particular touching, or mayindicate completely different commands. For example, a single fingertouch on the glucose chart 114 may indicate to the receiver softwarethat the user wants to set options for display of data, and may resultin an options user interface being displayed in place of the glucosechart 114. However, if the receiver detects two fingers touching theglucose chart 114, the software may be programmed to zoom in on thedisplayed chart in response to the user's fingers moving further apartand to zoom out on the displayed chart in response to the user's fingersmoving closer together. Additionally, a touch sensitive display (or anyother input device discussed herein) may be used to scroll linearlythrough glucose data over time, zoom in and out of sections of glucosedata, scroll point-to-point within a graph to see individual values, andthe like. Thus, an endless combination of commands may be providedthrough a touch sensitive display in response to the above-notedattributes that may be detected by a touch sensitive display.

A resistive touch sensitive display may include layers that areseparated by a small gap such that when a user's finger touches aparticular portion of the surface the two layers are brought intocontact in order to cause an electrical current to run through layers atthat particular position. The position where the current is detected onthe resistive surface may then be used to determine a particular screenposition where the surface was touched. The screen position touched maythen be used by the receiver's software to determine any processes to beperformed in response to the detected touching of the display (e.g.,displaying a signal strength indicator for a second sensor in responseto determining that the user touched the signal strength indicator for afirst sensor).

In a capacitive system, one layer of the display stores a capacitivecharge that is transferred to a user's finger (or other object) that isin contact with (or in very close proximity to) the touch sensitivedisplay. Thus, the position on the surface where a reduced charge isdetected can be translated into coordinates of the display where theuser is interacting with the touch sensitive surface.

A surface acoustic wave system may include at least two transducers, onefor receiving and one for transmitting acoustic signals. In oneembodiment, the transducers are placed along the X and Y axes of a touchsensitive display, with mirrors on the opposite sides of the touchsensitive display. The receiving transducer is configured to detect whena portion of the wave has been disturbed by an object, such as a user'sfinger or stylus, and to determine based on disturbance in the wave aspecific position where the object touched or moved near to the touchsensitive surface.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are top views of two different receivers 200A and 200B(collectively referred to as receivers 200) having substantiallycircular touch sensitive input devices 216A and 216B, respectively. Eachof receivers 200 includes a display 210, a speaker 212, a selectionbutton 214, and an input device 216. Depending on the embodiment, theinput devices 216A, 216B may include a capacitive or a resistive inputdevice. For example, a capacitive input device may include multiplecapacitive pads, such as 4, 8, 16, 24, or more capacitive pads thatextend around the input device 216A, 216B. In one embodiment, aprocessor of the receiver and/or separate processing logic, isconfigured to determine the position and possibly a direction and/orspeed of movement, of a user finger on the input device 216 in responseto data from one or more of the multiple capacitive pads. For example,processing logic may be configured to detect whether the user's fingeris moving in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction, andalso may determine the speed at which the finger is moving. Thedetermined position and/or direction information may then be used in anynumber of ways to navigate through menus, options, directions,tutorials, or any other user interface that may be presented on thedisplay 210. For example, actions that a user can control via a circularinput device 216 include scrolling, selection of items via a doubleclick (either of the selection button 214 or a portion of the inputdevice 216), forward and backward commands, directional commands (up,down, left, right, diagonals), zooming graphic functions (eitherscrolling or directional control), scrolling of input values, such asglucose calibration values, pausing, starting and stopping actives (suchas instructional videos), etc.

FIG. 3 is the receiver of FIG. 2A with a glucose chart and other dataassociated with sensor data and receiver attributes shown on the display210. In particular, the display 210 includes a three hour glucose chart302, a current glucose reading 304, a glucose trend indicator 306, abattery life indicator 308, and a signal strength indicator 310. Asnoted above, the input device 216A may be used in various manners toadjust what is displayed on the display 210. For example, with the threehour glucose chart 302 displayed on the display 210, in one embodimentthe time period for the glucose chart may be adjusted by movement of theuser's finger on the input device 216A in either a clockwise orcounterclockwise direction. For example, if the user moves a finger inthe clockwise direction, the time period for the glucose chart 302 onthe display 210 may be increased. Additionally, the speed of movement ofthe user's finger may be detected and used in order to determine anincremental increase in the time period shown on the display 210 (e.g.,where faster movement is associated with larger incremental increases inthe time period). Similarly, if the user moves a finger in thecounterclockwise direction on the input device 216A, a time period forthe glucose chart on the display 210 may be decreased, such as at anincrement that corresponds to the speed of movement in thecounterclockwise direction.

In one embodiment, the selection button 214 may be configured to cyclethrough various user interfaces on the display screen 210. For example,when the selection button 214 is pressed with the display of FIG. 3, thedisplay may be updated to show a user interface including a menu ofsetup options. If the selection button 214 is again pressed, the displaymay be updated to show a user interface including a list of helpoptions. As those of skill in the art will recognize, the types of userinterfaces and the order of display of the user interfaces in responseto pressing the selection button, or receiving any other input on theinput device 216A, may be customized in various manners.

User Interface and Navigation Options

FIG. 4 illustrates four user interfaces 402, 404, 406, and 408, that maybe displayed on a receiver at four different points in time. The userinterface 402 includes a one hour glucose chart, while the userinterface 404 includes a three hour glucose chart, the user interface406 includes a six hour glucose chart, and the user interface 408includes a twelve hour glucose chart. As those of skill in the art willrecognize, each of the user interfaces 402, 404, 406, 408 may bedesirable for display to a user (e.g., a host, a caregiver, and/orphysician) in order to convey various information to the user. Forexample, a one hour glucose chart (e.g., user interface 402) may be usedto track changes in glucose level where a change in the glucose level isexpected in response to a recent even, such as after administering aninsulin shot to the host. The three hour, six hour, and twelve hourglucose charts convey longer periods of information that can be used totrack longer term trends. Additionally, a user may desire to quicklychange between glucose charts of various time periods with variouspredefined user inputs, such as tapping on a touch sensitive inputdevice. For example, one tap on a glucose chart could request a 1-hourchart, 2 taps a 3 hour chart and so forth. In one embodiment, any othertime period, such as 24, 48, or 72 hours, or even periods of weeks,months, or years, may be selected for display in the same or similarmanner.

FIG. 4 also includes three exemplary receivers 410 (including 410A and410B), 420 (including 420A and 420B), and 430 (including 430A and 430B).The receiver 410 comprises a touch sensitive scroll wheel 412, such asthe input devices 216 described with respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3. Thereceiver 420 comprises a mechanical scroll wheel 422 that protrudesslightly from a right side of the receiver 420. In one embodiment, themechanical scroll wheel 422 rotates in order to provide commands fromthe user to the software executing on the receiver 420. Depending on theembodiment, the mechanical scroll wheel 422 may also be configured to bedepressed in order to provide another input indicator, such as selectionof an icon that is highlighted after adjusting a currently selected iconby rotating the mechanical scroll wheel 422. The receiver 430 comprisesa touch sensitive display surface, such as a capacitive, resistive,and/or acoustic wave device (e.g., FIG. 1). Each of the receivers 410,420, 430 advantageously execute software that receives signals from theinput devices of the respective receivers indicative of the user'sdesire to update the time period of the glucose chart currentlydisplayed on the receiver. Thus, each of the receivers 410, 420, and 430are configured to scroll between user interfaces having different timeperiods of data displayed on its respective display.

In one embodiment, motion in a first direction on the respective inputdevice of a receiver causes a time period for which glucose data isdisplayed on the receiver to increase, while motion in a seconddirection (e.g., a direction opposite to the first direction) causes thetime period for which glucose data is displayed on the receiver todecrease. FIG. 4 includes arrows on or near the input devices of theillustrated exemplary receivers, where the arrows indicate a directionof motion on the respective input device. For example, the arrow 414indicates a clockwise motion on the touch sensitive receiver 410A, whilethe arrow 416 on the receiver 410B indicates counterclockwise motion onthe touch sensitive receiver 410B. The arrow 440A indicates the effecton the time period of the glucose chart displayed on the receiver as therespective receivers detect motion in the directions indicated onreceivers 410A, 420A, or 430A. Similarly, the arrow 440B indicates theeffect on the time of glucose chart displayed on the receiver as therespective receivers detect motion in the directions indicated onreceivers 410B, 420B, and 430B. Accordingly, when clockwise motion onthe touch sensitive scroll wheel 412 or by the mechanical scroll wheel422, or movement from left to right on the touch sensitive display ofreceiver 430A, are detected, the time period of the glucose chartdisplayed on the receivers increases. Similarly, when counterclockwisemotion on the touch sensitive scroll wheel 412, by the mechanical scrollwheel 422, or movement from right to left on the touch sensitive displayof receiver 430B, are detected, the time period of the glucose chartdisplayed on the receivers decreases. In this way, the user can easilyscroll between glucose charts and related data over different timeperiods. In other embodiments, any other motion may be used in order toindicate changes to the glucose chart time period. Additionally, theinput devices of the receivers 410, 420, 430, may be used to changeother parameters associated with a particular user interface that isdisplayed on the display screen. In some embodiments, the input devicesof the receivers may be used to navigate through menus, set defaultoptions, set alerts, respond to training exercises, access Internet ornetwork resources, scroll through any list of options, such as possiblecalibration options, and/or to provide any other input to the receivers.

In one embodiment, similar to the sliding, selectable scale on thex-axis, the receiver is also configured to detect motion along they-axis that may indicate various display changes desired by the user.For example, motion along the y-axis may indicate that the currentglucose chart (or other data displayed on the receiver) should beincreased or decreased in size (e.g., zoom in or zoom out). For example,in FIG. 1 the user may be able to use touch screen capabilities to slidethe glucose scale so that it shows levels between 100 and 200, ratherthan 50-400 as displayed in FIG. 1. Such a zoom option may provide ahigher resolution view of the data and aid in interpreting trends.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1A, the peaks and valleys of the glucose chartare labeled with the actual glucose levels at those peaks and valleys.Similar labeling may occur on any other glucose charts and the labelsmay include additional information, such as the particular time that thepeak or valley was reached. In one embodiment, the user may select apeak or valley (such as by touching the label near a peak or valley on atouch sensitive display) in order to zoom in on that particular portionof the glucose data, display additional information regarding the hostat the time of the selected peak or valley, and/or initiate display ofany other information. In some embodiments, hovering over, tapping,selecting or expanding any particular time point will cause any or alladditional data associated with that time point (e.g., glucose value,reference value, insulin delivery information, insulin on boardinformation, user-initiated events, or other measured parametersassociated with that time point) to appear.

In one embodiment, certain receivers, such as receiver having a touchsensitive screen, may include a locking mechanism to prevent changeswhen accidentally touched.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface 510 including a six hour glucosechart as well as a short-term glucose change trend indicator 520.Depending on the embodiment, the trend indicator 520 may indicate atrend for various time periods. For example, the trend indicator 520 mayindicate changes in glucose levels over a 15 minute period. In someembodiments, the trend indicator 520 may be based on changes in glucoselevels over a 5, 10, 20, 30, or any other time period. Advantageously,the user interface 510 provides a longer-term indication of glucoselevel changes (e.g., six hours of glucose data is displayed in theembodiment of FIG. 5), while also showing a current trend based on veryrecent data that may not be discernible from the longer-term glucosechart. Trend indicators, such as the illustrated arrow, may provide ameaningful resolution of trend information, for example, at least about10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 mg/dL/hour. Additionally, thepresentation of the trend indicator preferably provides a unitassociated with the rate of change, such as mg/dL/hour or mmol/hour,whereby the user can use the trend indicator for determining theirtherapeutic decision (e.g., in terms of hours).

In one embodiment, the trend indicator 520 and/or other data of the userinterface 510 may change colors according to a status of the trendindicator. For example, if the users glucose level is currently high,but the 15 minute trend indicates a downward movement, the trendindicator may be green (while the actual graph data that exceed the highthreshold may be red). Likewise, if the user's glucose level is near apredetermined high and the 15 minute trend indicates upward movement,the trend indicator may be colored red (while the actual graph dataremains black or green). Additionally, the glucose level 512 may changecolor in response to changes in a trend in order to convey trendinformation without requiring additional display area. In otherembodiments, colors, fonts, font formatting, and other display optionsmay be selectively changed in order to convey information associatedwith sensor data.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the user interface 510 also includes anestimated A1C value 514. In one embodiment, software executed by areceiver may be configured to analyze continuous glucose data in orderto estimate the user's current A1C value. In one embodiment, a graphshowing changes in A1C values of the user over a selected time period,such as one week, two weeks, one month, two months, six months, or anyother time period, may also be displayed on a suitably configuredreceiver. Furthermore, the time period of A1C data displayed on areceiver may be adjusted up or down by simple movements of a user'sfinger, stylus, or other input device, such as is discussed above withreference to FIG. 4, for example. In some alternative embodiments, thesoftware executed by the receiver is able to process the sensor data todetermine average glucose from the sensor data, area under the curve(which can provide a measure of how much exposure a patient has had toglucose) variability (e.g., standard deviation), or the like, andprovide the data to the patient directly in real time so they can tracktheir progress right on the receiver through a touch screen process.

A signal strength indicator 530 is also included in the user interface510. The signal strength indicator 530 graphically indicates a strengthof a current communication link between the receiver and a transmitter.In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the indicator 530 includes five horizontalbars, where zero or more of the bars are shaded to indicate a strengthof a signal from the transmitter. The particular exemplary indicator 530of FIG. 5 includes two shaded bars and three unshaded bars, which mayindicate that the signal strength is less than half (maybe around ⅖) ofa possible signal strength. In this embodiment, if the signal strengthis a maximum (e.g., strong enough so that there is no signal lostbetween the receiver and transmitter), each of the five bars would beshaded. Similarly, in this embodiment if the signal strength is very low(e.g., no recognizable signal from the transmitter is received), none ofthe five bars would be shaded. In other embodiments, other quantities ofbars, as well as different graphical and/or numeric indicia of a signalstrength, may be included on a receiver user interface. In oneembodiment, a signal strength indicator may be used to locate a losttransmitter. Additionally, a signal strength indicator may be used toallow a user to better troubleshoot transmitter issues, such as by beingable to know the strength of the transmitter signal when it is close tothe receiver. Additionally or alternatively, the strength indicator canbe configured to provide information indicating how recently a datapacket (or a glucose value) has been received and/or how many datapackets (or glucose values) have been received in a recent time period(and therefore how much glucose information is available and/or areliability of the glucose trend information, for example).

FIG. 5A illustrates a receiver 540 that depicts a full screen display ofa glucose chart that includes a short term chart 545 overlaid on thelong term chart 550. Thus, the user can view details of the most currentglucose data as illustrated in FIG. 5A, or may view any other timeperiod in the short term chart 545 by providing appropriate inputs tothe receiver 540. For example, tap a portion of the glucose chart oftouch sensitive display or turning a mechanical or touch sensitive wheelmay indicate different time periods for display in the short term chart545. The short term chart 550 may be displayed near the correspondingposition of the same data on the long term chart 550, in any unused areaof the long term chart 550, and/or in a separate window that may bedisplayed on the receiver 540.

FIG. 6A illustrates a user interface 610 that also includes a trendindicator 620 indicating a trend in glucose level changes over adifferent time period than is displayed on the chart of user interface610. As noted above, the trend indicator 620 may be configured toindicate a trend over any available time period, either shorter orlonger than the time period on which the current glucose chart is based,such that data from two different time periods is concurrently displayedon the user interface 610. The user interface 610 also has a statuswindow 630 that indicates additional status information associated withthe receiver or the sensor, for example. In one embodiment, the statuswindow 630 includes an indicator of the remaining useful life of thesensor from which the receiver is currently receiving glucose data. Inone embodiment, the status window 630 includes an indicator of anestimated time until a next calibration is suggested. In otherembodiments, the status window 630 may include any other informationavailable to the receiver. The status window can provide informationsuch as time since sensor insertion, confidence level of sensor data,trend information and/or predicted information, amount of time thesensor is/was on/off during a sensor session, and/or various other dataassociated with the receiver, sensor, and/or host.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6A, the status window 630 may be selected,such as by touching the status window 630 on a touch sensitive displayof a receiver, or selecting the status window 630 using other inputdevices, in order to expand the display of status information, and topossibly include additional status information. FIG. 6B illustrates anexemplary user interface 640 that may be displayed on a receiver inresponse to the user selecting the status window 630 (FIG. 6A).

FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface 710 including a glucose chart for a3 hour time period and a navigation bar 720 that shows glucose data overa longer period. In the example of FIG. 7, the navigation bar 720illustrates glucose data for a 24 hour time period. In this embodiment,the time period of glucose data displayed in the window 712 may beadjusted by moving the slider 722 to the left (e.g., in order toincrease the time period of data displayed in the window 712) or to theright (e.g., in order to decrease the time period of data displayed inthe window 712). Depending on the hardware of the receiver, the slider722 may be moved in response to various user inputs. For a touchsensitive receiver, such as the receiver 100, for example, a user maytouch and drag the slider 722 in order to adjust the time period forwhich data is displayed in the window 712. In one embodiment, as theslider is moved the total time period for which data is displayed in thenavigation bar 720 also changes. Thus, in one embodiment when the slider722 is moved to the left, not only does the time period for which datais displayed in the window 712 increase, but the total time period forwhich data is displayed in the navigation bar 720 also increases. Forexample, with reference to the specific user interface 710 of FIG. 7, ifthe slider 722 is moved to the left so that 24 hours of sensor data isdisplayed in the window 712, the navigation bar 720 may be updated toinclude data from a 48 hour period, rather than the 24 hours of dataillustrated in FIG. 7.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the user interface 710 also includes aremaining sensor life indicator 714. In this embodiment, the darkportion 715 of the indicator 714 illustrates a portion of the sensorlife that remains (relative to the entire length of the rectangularicon). In this embodiment, the indicator 714 also indicates an estimatedtime period for which the current sensor is suitable for use.Suitability may be based on expiration of the glucose sensor, accuracyof the glucose sensor data, noise associated with the glucose sensordata, time since sensor insertion, an algorithmic determination ofsensor end-of-life, or the like. In particular, the indicator 714illustrates that the current sensor is suitable for use for another twodays. Depending on the embodiment, the time estimate of a remainingsensor life indicator may be only displayed when sensor life is below apredetermined threshold, such as one week, two days, or one day, forexample. Depending on embodiment, sensor life indicators such as theindicator 714 of FIG. 7 may be included in various other user interfacesthat are displayed on receivers, such as in the status window 630 ofFIGS. 6A and 6B.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the glucose chart displayed in window 712also includes event tags that indicate when particular events occurred.In this particular embodiment, the tags include a food tag 716 and aninsulin tag 718, which indicate specific times at which the indicatedevents occurred. In other embodiments, any number of indicators may beavailable for tracking events, such as exercise, sleep, ill, and anyother events that might be interesting to the user and/or others thatview the user's glucose data (e.g., the users physician). In oneembodiment, the event indicators move as the selected time period ischanged so that they continue to point to the appropriate position ofthe chart. Event indicators may be added to the glucose chart (andassociated with the selected event time for later use) in response to apredefined user input, such as touch of a portion of the glucose chartin a touch sensitive display, for example. In one embodiment, the eventindicators may be selected, such as by touching the icons displayed on atouch sensitive receiver, in order to initiate display of furtherinformation regarding the selected event. Depending on embodiment, theadditional information regarding the event may be displayed in a pop-uptype window that covers a portion of the user interface 710, or aseparate window that replaces the user interface 710, or possibly thewindow 712.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method ofmonitoring an input device in order to adjust a time period of sensordata that is displayed on the device. For example, the method of FIG. 8may be used in order to adjust the time period for a glucose chart thatis displayed on a receiver that receives continuous glucose data from acontinuous analyte sensor. Although FIG. 8 is described with respect toadjusting time periods associated with glucose data, the method of FIG.8 may be used to adjust any other time periods, such as the time periodof sensor data used in a chart illustrating historical estimated and/oractual A1C values. Depending on the embodiment, the method of FIG. 8 mayinclude fewer or additional blocks and blocks may be performed in adifferent order than is illustrated in FIG. 8.

Beginning in block 810, sensor data for a default time period isdisplayed on the receiver. In one embodiment, the default time period ispreset by a manufacturer and may be adjusted by the user to customizethe default time period. The glucose data may be displayed in variousformats, such as the line graphs that are included in many of thefigures, other types of graphs or charts, and/or raw or summarizedsensor data.

Moving to block 820, the receiver monitors signals received from therespective input device(s) in order to determine if movement on one ormore of the input devices has been detected. Depending on embodiment,input devices may include one or more touch sensitive surfaces, such asa capacitive, resistive, and/or acoustic wave devices, a scroll wheel,either touch sensitive or mechanical, and/or any other available inputdevice.

Next, in block 830, the receiver determines if movement has beendetected on one or more of the receiver input devices. If movement in afirst direction has been detected, the method moves to block 840 wherethe time period for which sensor data is displayed is decreased.Alternatively, if movement in a second direction is detected, the methodmoves to block 850 where the time period for which sensor data isdisplayed is increased. In one embodiment, the decrease (e.g., block840) or increase (e.g., block 850) occurs at a predetermined increment.In another embodiment, the decrease (or increase) in the time periodchange is adjusted based on a speed and/or acceleration of the detectedmovement, such that a fast movement results in a decrease (or increase)in the time period at a greater interval than a slow movement wouldcause. In block 830, if no movement is detected, the method continues toblock 860 where the display is updated to illustrate sensor data for thecurrent time period. Accordingly, if the time period has been adjustedat blocks 840 or 850, the display will be updated to include additionalor less (depending on whether the time period has increased ordecreased) sensor information. With the time period for the sensor dataupdated in block 860, the method returns to block 820 where the inputdevice(s) of the receiver are monitored for additional movements thatmay indicate further changes to the time period.

Receiver Modes

FIG. 9 illustrates a touch sensitive receiver 900 displaying a userinterface 910 that allows the user to select an operation mode. In oneembodiment, a mode selection interface, such as the user interface 910,may be presented to a user upon initial setup of the receiver and/or atany other time when the user wishes to adjust an operational mode.Similar interfaces may be presented to users on any other type ofreceiver, such as the receivers illustrated in FIG. 4. Advantageously,each mode may have different menu options, sensor readings, graph types,default graph time periods, alert algorithms, and/or other receiversettings. For example, if a pregnancy mode is selected, sensor data maybe received from a body temperature and/or pulse rate sensor, while thediabetic mode receives data from a transcutaneous glucose sensor.Furthermore, the types of information displayed to a user in thedifferent modes may vary. For example, the athletic mode may receivedata from a heart rate and/or blood pressure sensor and charts may begenerated to indicate the users heart rate and/or blood pressure overvarious time periods, which may be adjusted according to the methoddescribed in FIG. 8, for example.

Modes may be provided to allow a user to customize display and alertpreferences based on a status of the user and/or a status of thereceiving display device. For example, different user-selectable modesbased on the status of a user may include one or more of resting,exercise, do not disturb, silent, loud, soft, illness, menstruation,mealtime, snooze, day, night, hyperglycemica, hypoglycemia, clinicalrisk, and the like. These modes may be selected by the user at anytimeand may be selected to be activated and deactivated according to aschedule. For example, a sleep mode may be selected such that it isactivated from 10 pm to 7 am each night or a do not disturb mode thatmay be selected such that it is activated from 1 pm to 4 pm Mondaythrough Friday. In another embodiment, a selected mode may be associatedwith a timer such that after an indicated time period, the mode isautomatically changed back to a default mode. For example, a user mayselect an exercise mode when entering a gym for a one hour trainingsession and may associate a sixty minute timer so that the default modeis activated automatically after the workout is complete.

The selected mode may indicate changes in how glucose data is displayedbased on the display/response preferences specified for each mode. Forexample, a mealtime mode may adjust a time period for displaying glucosedata on a glucose chart by shortening the time period displayed to showa higher resolution of changes in glucose levels while the mode isselected. Furthermore, when a person is exercising, his/her glucoselevels may increase or decrease in trends that would be abnormal underany other circumstances; by selecting an appropriate mode, additionalinformation specially applicable to exercise conditions may be displayedand formatting may be adjusted.

Additionally, alerts associated with respective modes may vary in orderto detect sensor data that is of interest to the user that has selectedthat particular mode. For example, selection of the diabetes mode mayselect alerts and corresponding alert conditions associated with highand low blood glucose thresholds. However, these same alerts may not beinteresting to a woman that is going through a high risk pregnancy andwishes to track certain of her vital signs. Similarly, an athlete thatselects the athletic mode may be interested in receiving alertsindicating that the athletes heart rate exceeds a predetermined (e.g.,user defined) threshold. Additionally, alerts for a child with diabetesmay be at different levels than would be customary for an adult withdiabetes, and changes in a child's blood glucose levels over time may beless or more indicative of changes that should trigger an alert.Accordingly, the alert conditions associated with different modes mayvary. Furthermore, the delivery method for triggered alerts may varyaccording to a selected mode, such that an alert for a child that hasreached a blood glucose level near hypoglycemia may be transmitted to acaregiver of the child, while a similar alert for an adult that may bedisplayed only on the adults receiver. Thus, each of the modes mayinclude custom alerts and corresponding alert conditions, as well asdelivery options, which may be further customized by the particular userto meet the user's needs.

In one embodiment, the selected mode may affect which alerts aretriggered such that certain sensor data might trigger an alert when theuser has selected a first mode, but would not trigger an alert when thehost has selected a second mode. For example, an alert that may betriggered when a user has selected a day mode, may not be triggered whena user has selected a night mode. Furthermore, the length, volume ortype of alert may change based on the selected mode. For example, when asoft mode is selected, the volume of alerts are automatically reduced,while in a silent mode, a vibration alert is used in place of an audiblealert.

In one embodiment, the algorithms that are used to analyze sensor datamay change based on a selected mode. For example, a child with diabetesmay select the child mode in order to initiate monitoring of bloodglucose levels of the child and to provide appropriate alerts. However,the blood glucose level of the child may be calculated using a differentalgorithm than might be used for an adult (using the standard diabetesmode).

In one embodiment, each of the available modes is associated withpredetermined default sensor information, menu options, charts and/orreport types, alert criteria, and/or data analysis algorithms, which maybe adjusted by a particular user to meet the users specific needs.Additionally, a user may select a custom mode in order to define customsettings for any of the above noted attributes.

In other embodiments, other features of the receiver software may becustomized based on a selected mode. For example, different icons may beassociated with different modes. For example, an athletic mode mayinclude icons that illustrate an athlete in various positions, while thechild mode may have default icons that indicate static or animatedcartoon characters. In one embodiment, certain modes require differentsetup information and, thus, may be associated with differentinformation requests as part of a mode setup routine (see FIG. 10 for anexemplary setup routine). For example, a mode that is associated withmultiple sensors may include additional requests for sensor informationas part of a mode setup routine. In some embodiments, different modesare associated with different noise filtering algorithms. For example,in the child mode, the noise filtering software may provide additionalfiltering as compared to the noise filtering provided when in thediabetes mode.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary start up process thatguides the user through the initial set-up of the receiver. A methodsimilar to that of FIG. 10 may also be initiated by receiver software inresponse to changing a mode of the receiver, such as is discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 9. Thus, the method of FIG. 10 may be considereda startup process and/or a mode setup routine. Depending on theembodiment, the method of FIG. 10 may include fewer or additional blocksand/or the blocks may be performed in a different order than isillustrated. For example, any other number of requests for informationand/or displays of additional information may be included as part of astartup process.

Beginning in block 1010, the receiver displays identifiers of anylocated transmitters and allows the user to select one or moreappropriate transmitters for communication with the receiver. In oneembodiment, the receiver automatically detects any sensors within rangeof the receiver when the method of FIG. 10 is initiated (e.g., when areceiver is initially set up or when a mode of the receiver has beenchanged). In such an embodiment, the user may be provided with a list ofdetected sensors and be allowed to select one or more of the sensorsfrom which the receiver should receive and/or request data. In anembodiment where a receiver includes a touch sensitive display, sensorsmay be selected by touching icons (and/or text) representing variouslocated sensors that are depicted on the display. In response toselection of one or more sensors, the receiver may request furtherinformation from the user regarding how the sensor data should be usedby the receiver.

Next, in block 1020, the receiver displays the default high and lowalert levels for sensor data received from the sensor and/or derivedfrom the sensor data. For example, if the method of FIG. 10 is executedin response to a user selecting the child diabetes mode (see FIG. 9, forexample), the receiver may display a default hypoglycemia alert leveland a default hyperglycemia alert level (as well as any number of otheralerts). In one embodiment, the user is provided an opportunity toadjust the default alert levels and/or add additional alerts at thisstage of the method. For example, a default hypoglycemia alert level maybe adjusted by swiping a finger across a touch sensitive screen,rotating a mechanical scroll wheel, or moving in a clockwise orcounterclockwise motion on a circular touch sensitive input device.Alert delivery options may also be displayed to the user and the usermay be allowed to adjust the delivery options.

Moving to block 1030, the user is instructed to insert and/or place oneor more sensors on the appropriate anatomical positions, if not alreadyso positioned. In one embodiment, the receiver displays text, images,and/or video illustrating where and how selected sensors are to beoptimally positioned.

In block 1040, the user is prompted to enter current calibrationinformation, such as a current blood glucose level when a diabetes mode,or any other mode that tracks blood glucose level, has been selected.Depending on the selected mode, the information requested in block 1040may vary. For example, calibration information regarding a bloodpressure sensor may be requested in order to properly calibrate a bloodpressure sensor from which the receiver receives data.

In block 1050, the receiver initiates tracking of the indicated sensordata and monitoring of the indicated alerts according to the defaultlevels that were displayed to the user during the setup routine, orusing user-defined levels that were received by the user during thesetup routine. The receiver may then display the current sensor readingson the receiver according to the determine default and/or userpreferences. The initial display on the receiver may vary from oneembodiment to another.

Proximity or Accelerometer Sensor

The screen size of the receiver's display may limit the amount ofhistorical glucose data that may be shown on the display at one time.For example, glucose data indicating a trend in glucose level changesover a specified time period may include trend data for a span ofseveral months; however, the receiver may show one week of data on thedisplay at one time. To allow a user another method for changing thetime period displayed on the receiver (e.g., which seven days of dataare displayed), a sensor may be included within the receiver whichprovides data about the receiver's relative position in space. Forexample, a gyroscope, proximity sensor, velocity sensor, accelerometer,or the like may be included within the receiver to provide positiondata. Data from the sensor allows the receiver to detect the movement ofthe receiver as controlled by the user and may be used to change thedata range displayed on the receiver based on how the user physicallymoves the device. For example, the display may show a portion of aglucose trend data set which depends on the relative position of thereceiver in space. By holding the receiver in the air, the user may movethe receiver to the left to go back in time, or the user may move thereceiver to the right to move forward in time. Thus, using receiverposition input may allow a user to “scroll” through trend data as a usermoves the device. The receiver may also include a “lock” button in orderto lock the data displayed on the screen so as to allow movement of thereceiver without changing the current data range on the display.

Data Integrity

A user may wish to view and respond to glucose data using multipleremote viewers. Preserving data integrity when transmitting andreceiving glucose data may be important to ensure that a user makescorrect therapeutic decisions based on accurately transmitted glucosevalues. For example, a glucose value of 398 mg/dl may be transmitted bya base station to a remote viewer as string of numbers “398.” As thestring is transmitted, there is a possibility that, for example, the “3”character would be dropped. In this case, the remote viewer may simplydisplay “98 mg/dL” which may create a significant medical risk that auser will respond to the incorrect value in a way that would be harmful.To avoid displaying incorrect glucose values in such a scenario, avalidated transmitting device may instead send a screen shot or image ofthe glucose data. For example, the glucose data may be sent as a lowresolution image, a compressed image or a data format such as a jpg,pdf, png or the like. In this manner, the risk of displaying anincorrect value invoking a harmful therapeutic decision is reduced.

Current Time Display

As shown in FIG. 1, the receiver may show the current time on thedisplay, such as in the space next to the glucose chart. To save spaceon the display, the current time value may be repositioned and displayedinstead in the glucose chart at the end of the time on the time axis. Inthis way, space may be saved on the screen. Furthermore, displaying thecurrent time at the end of the time axis may provide an intuitivereference value for aiding a user in interpreting the glucose chart.

Background Displays

A variety of mobile communication devices, such as a cell phones, may beconfigured as primary or secondary devices for viewing glucose data. Onsome such devices, a user performs a series of operations before glucosedata is displayed such as activating or “waking” a device, unlocking adevice, logging in using a passcode, and browsing for and launching anapplication. This may reduce the device's ease of use for providingglucose information which is easily accessible to users.

To allow glucose data to be more easily accessible, glucose informationmay be displayed on a background display for a device and the glucoseinformation may be continually updated by an application running in thebackground. FIG. 11A shows an example of a device 1100 with a backgrounddisplay 1106 showing glucose information. The device 1100 may include abutton 1102 that may be used to wake up the device when the device is ina sleep mode. The glucose information may be displayed on the backgrounddisplay 1106 when the user presses the button 1102 to wake up thedevice. Furthermore, the background display 1106 showing glucoseinformation may be displayed before the user performs operations such asan unlock operation by using an unlock mechanism 1104. Thus, in oneaspect, displaying the data in a background screen may allow a user toview glucose information by simply waking up the device. In anotheraspect, glucose data may be displayed in the background withoutrequiring a user to enter a passcode or launch an application. If a userwishes to be provided with additional information about the glucosedata, an application launch button may also be provided on the display.In another embodiment, a button or a specially defined passcode or“quick code” that may be entered by the user may also be provided toallow for an additional method for displaying glucose information on thedevice quickly. Examples of devices that may take advantage ofdisplaying glucose data in a background display may include but are notlimited to cell phones, insulin pumps, automobile displays, computers,or other electronic systems where user information is displayed. In FIG.11A, the background display 1106 showing glucose information isdisplayed using a landscape orientation. FIG. 11B shows an example of adevice 1100 with a background display 1106 showing glucose informationusing a portrait orientation.

Continuous Alert Profiles

Under certain circumstances, a user may miss an alarm and may need to bewarned several times of a hypoglycemic glucose condition. A profile maybe provided, that when chosen by a user, repeatedly alerts a user of ahypoglycemic condition until either the user acknowledges the alert, orthe estimated glucose value reaches a safe range. This profile may beapplied to several different types of alarms, such as for example, afixed low alarm.

Alarm Tune Generation

An alert system may use several different alarm tunes, or musical tonesequences, to aid a user in distinguishing between different alarms.When individual alarm tunes are stored as separate media files, such asa way audio file, a large amount of the receiver's memory is consumed.For example, storing a thirty second sound file, corresponding to onealarm tune could require one megabyte of memory. Alternatively, ratherthan storing individual alarm tunes as separate media files, individualalarm tunes may be generated at the time they are needed by using asmall set of tones stored in memory. In another embodiment, the tonesthemselves may be generated at the time an alarm is triggered without aneed to store tones in memory. As a result, only a small portion ofmemory (e.g., flash memory) is used for storing alarm tunes, and at anytime, only one alarm tune currently being played may needed to be storedin active memory (e.g., SDRAM). In addition, a large variety ofdifferent alarm tunes may be generated without requiring each separatealarm tune to be stored individually.

Indicator Lights

As described herein, continuous glucose monitor systems gather anddisplay glucose information in real time to users and a receiver maydisplay current glucose information, trend arrows and trend graphs. Areceiver may also have a series of alarms which are triggered when aglucose value goes above or below preset alarm limits. Predictivealgorithms may also be provided which use historical glucose data topredict a future glucose value such as what a glucose value might be inten, thirty, or sixty minutes. In response to the predicted values,alarms may be triggered according to preset alarm limits.

In many current display devices, in order to obtain both current andpredicted glucose values, a user may be required to perform a series ofactions to view trend graphs or glucose meters on the receiver'sdisplay, such as activating a display by pushing a button. To provide auser with an additional method for gaining information about currentglucose data or a system status, an indicator light or series ofindicator lights may be provided on the receiver.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a display device 100 including indicatorlights 1202, 1204, 1206. The indicator lights 1202, 1204, 1206 may beincluded on top of the side of the device 100. An indicator light 1202may display a color according to the status of the patient's glucoselevels or according to other system status information. In oneembodiment the indicator light 1202 is a green color, while anotherindicator light 1204 is a yellow color, while yet another indicatorlight 1206 is a red color. For example, an indicator light 1202 may be asolid green color if a measured glucose value is in a target range and apredicted glucose value is also in the target range. The indicator light1202 may change to a solid yellow color if the predicted glucose rangeis outside the target range but the current glucose value is inside thetarget range. The indicator light 1202 may change to a solid red colorif the current glucose value and the predicted glucose value are outsideof the target range.

An indicator light 1202 may be configured to indicate furtherinformation such as the status of a glucose sensor (e.g., eitherfunctioning or blanketed data), a status of a glucose value when areceiver is in silent mode (e.g., as an alternative to providing analarm), a status of a predicted glucose value, or a status of an insulinpump. In addition, an indicator light 1202 may indicate the distancebetween a current glucose value and a target range, or be used forindicating a hypoglycemia condition versus a hyperglycemia condition. Anindicator light 1202 may indicate different types of information byusing multiple colors, by using blinking lights, by varying lightintensity, or by combining a series of indicator lights whoseilluminated length communicates certain information. The indicatorlights 1202, 1204, 1206 may be light emitting diodes (LEDs) for example.Indicator lights 1202, 1204, 1206 may be placed on the edge or side ofthe receiver to allow a light to be easily observed. For example, anindicator may be placed so that it may be observed when the receiver isplaced on any surface or if the receiver is pulled partially out of apocket, such as on the top of the side of the device. At least onebenefit provided by using indicator lights as described includesproviding an additional method for gaining information about a glucoseand/or sensor status without requiring the user to view informationshown on a display. Indicator lights may be placed on receivers such ascell phones, insulin pumps, transmitters, automobile displays,computers, or any other electronic device.

Light Attachment

Light indicators may also be placed in various locations to aid a userto quickly be able to determine the status of a current glucose level ora trend in glucose data. The light indicators and a housing may beconnected wirelessly to a primary receiver. For example, a small devicemay be provided which includes an LED light, a wireless receiver, and abattery along with a housing. This device may be placed, for example, onthe edge of a computer, a rear view mirror of a car, or on the edge of atelevision using adhesive or other attaching means. FIG. 13A shows anexample of a light indicator device 1304 that is attached to the edge ofa computer 1306. The light indicator device 1304 receives wirelessinformation from a primary receiver 1302 for indicating the status of acurrent glucose level or trend in glucose data. For example, if a user'sglucose level begins to fall, an LED light of the light indicator device1304 may be a solid red color. The intensity of the LED might increaseas the glucose level falls lower and lower. If the glucose level reachesa low threshold, the red light may begin to blink. Conversely, as aperson's glucose level rises, the LED light may change to a solid bluecolor and may increase in intensity as glucose levels becomes higher andhigher. If the glucose level reaches a high glucose threshold, the bluelight may begin to blink.

In another embodiment, a light indicator may be embedded within asensor/transmitter that is worn on a persons' body. FIG. 13B shows anexample of a light indicator device 1312 attached to asensor/transmitter device 1310 worn on a person's body 1308. In thisembodiment, a separate wireless receiver and battery would not benecessary as the device 1312 may use the battery and receive datadirectly from the sensor/transmitter 1310. Furthermore a primaryreceiver would not be necessary to transmit information to the lightindicator device 1312. The light indicator device 1312 could beintegrated as part of the sensor/transmitter device 1310, or it may beattached (e.g., snapped) onto the sensor/transmitter device 1310. Byallowing a light indicator device to be attached, a light indicatordevice would be capable of being removed if desired and separately sold.

Differentiated Display of Glucose Units

When displaying glucose values, different units may be used depending onthe source of the glucose information or the type of device that isbeing used to display the information. For example, glucose units may bedisplayed as milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or millimoles per liter(mmol/l) depending on whether the device is a receiver, an insulin pump,an integrated pump/receiver device, or a glucose meter. To prevent userconfusion between different glucose units, the graphical representationof the digits may be configured to allow differentiation betweendifferent units. For example, when representing a value using mmol/lunits, decimal digits may be reduced in size as compared to the integerdigits. This is shown for example, in FIG. 14 which shows a glucosevalue 1400 with an integer digit 1402, a decimal digit 1404 and a unit1406. As shown, the decimal digit 1404 is reduced in size enough to beeasily distinguished from the integer digit 1402, while the unit 1406 isreduced in size as compared to the integer digit 1404 and the decimaldigit 1406. In another embodiment, the glucose values may be displayedby using different colors or by using hyphenation between the digits.This may allow a user to more easily distinguish between differentglucose units in order to prevent a user from making a therapeuticdecision based on a mistaken reading. As one example, this method mayprevent a user from reading the value 10.8 mmol/l as 108 mg/dl.

Icons for Displaying Real-Time Data

Receivers may use various icons to indicate and display glucose levels.For example, when a low alarm is triggered, a “low glucose” icon may bedisplayed on the receiver. To allow a user to receive additionalinformation about glucose levels, the icon displayed may additionallyprovide alert symbols and/or real-time data. For example, a“low-glucose” icon may include an arrow pointing down along with theactual glucose level from a sensor. Other alert symbols or data may alsobe included.

Automatic Adjustment of Display Settings to Attract User Attention

As a user's real time glucose levels increase or decrease, the cognitionor awareness of a user may decrease. The receiver may be configured toautomatically adjust receiver display settings or adjust how informationis displayed in order to attract greater attention to the receiver fromthe user as glucose levels become increasingly high or low. For example,the receiver may automatically adjust the screen contrast so that itprogressively increases as glucose levels rise or fall. The receiver mayalso increase the color saturation to attract greater attention. Fontsizes or shapes may also be adjusted to be more pronounced, for exampleby increasing font size or by applying a bold-face to displayed text.Furthermore, the receiver screen may be configured to blink in order toattract further attention, for example, when glucose levels reachextremes. As one example, a person's normal glucose level may be 120mg/dl while a high glucose threshold for the person may be 200 mg/dl.When the person's glucose level is at the normal level, the screencontrast may be set at 50% and all fonts sizes may be normal. As glucoselevels for the person increases, the intensity of the backlight mayprogressively increase to become brighter, the contrast may be increasedsuch that trend graphs go from grey to black, and color may be displayedmore vibrantly. Additionally, font sizes may be increased. When theperson's glucose level reaches the high level of 200 mg/dl, the screenbacklight may start to blink on and off to further attract a user'sattention. Similar adjustments may automatically be made as the user'sglucose level reaches a low glucose threshold.

Alarm Volume

In another embodiment, alarm volumes may be automatically adjusted toattract greater attention to the receiver from the user as glucoselevels become increasingly high or low. For example, as a glucose levelbecomes progressively lower, an alarm's volume might be automaticallyadjusted to become progressively louder. In addition, a louder alarm maybe more effective at lower glucose levels than at higher glucose levels.As a result, in another embodiment, the alarm value may be increased asa glucose level falls, but not be increased as a glucose level rises. Asone example, if a person's glucose levels are normal, an alarm (oralert) volume may be set at 50% of the potential volume. As the person'sglucose level falls, the alarm volume might be progressively increaseduntil the user reaches a low level threshold, at which point the alarmor alert would be played at 100% of the potential volume. As glucoselevels fall below the low threshold, the volume may be continued to beplayed at 100% of the potential volume. Furthermore, as the person'sglucose level rises, the alarm volume might also be progressivelyincreased until the user reaches a high level threshold, at which pointan alarm or alert may be played at 100% of the potential volume. FIG.15A shows a table illustrating alarm volumes which correspond to variousglucose levels. FIG. 15B shows a chart showing the percentage of systemvolume which correspond to various glucose levels. Furthermore, in oneaspect, current alarms may be adjusted by the user for volume by alarmtype, but the alarm volume options may be preset.

Emergency Response Instructions

Under certain circumstances, a person with extremely low glucose levelsmay lose consciousness. A device may be configured to determine that auser may have lost consciousness and that the user would need furtherassistance from others. For example, when a receiver detects that aglucose level is below a determined value (e.g., below 60 mg/dl), andthat the user has not responded to an alarm (e.g., no button has beenpressed for 10 minutes), the receiver may determine that a user may havelost consciousness. Other sensors or indicator could be used to confirmthis indication, for example, an accelerometer (e.g., indicating nomovement), a sweat indicator, a temperature sensor, a heart ratemonitor, or the like. In this event, a device may switch to a mode thattriggers an alarm type used to alert others of the user's medicalcondition. In one aspect, this mode may be described as an emergencyresponse instruction mode. In this mode, an alarm may be changed to avoice that calls for help. For example, the alarm type may be a voicethat says “Call 911. Help. Press a button for more information.” Thealarm may be repeated until another person (e.g., a bystander) pushes abutton. After a button is pushed, the device may further instruct thebystander to aid the unconscious person by instructing the user to lookfor a glucogon shot in the patient's belongings. The device may alsoindicate to the bystander what information to communicate to anemergency response operator. This information may include the currentglucose level and the time the glucose level fell below a determinedthreshold.

Computer Peripheral Device

The receiver may additionally be configured to be connected to anothercomputing device and be recognized as a peripheral device. The receivermay be configured such that it implements a standard input/outputinterface such that the computer recognizes the receiver as a standardinput/output device. For example, a receiver may be configured to berecognized as a webcam. By using a standard input/output interface,glucose data and other information may be shared with the computer andother networks using existing applications and without furthermodification or defining a custom input/output interface. Glucoseinformation could be shared using existing or future applications suchas with Skype (e.g., through a screen sharing feature), WebEx,GoToMeeting, iChat, or any other application configured to use aperipheral device such as a webcam. As one example, a user may have aconsultation with a medical professional online. The user may start avideo conversation, for example, with the medical professional and maywish to share glucose information during the course of the consultation.To share the glucose information, the user would connect the glucosereceiver device to the computer via a connection cable. Because thecomputer would recognize the receiver as a webcam device, the user wouldbe able to select the receiver device as the current video output deviceand the glucose data displayed on the receiver screen is shared with themedical professional.

Touchscreen Gestures

As described above, a receiver may include a touch screen for receivingtouch input. Touch input from the user may be used to determine whattype of information is displayed by the receiver. For example, if a userswipes a finger across the top and down the side of the touchscreen, thereceiver might be configured to display the current glucose value and/oroutput the current glucose value audibly. In another example, a user maysimply tap the screen to display the current glucose value. Differenttouchscreen gestures might be defined to display the current glucosevalue, a current trend in glucose data, a trend for the last thirtyminutes, a trend for the last sixty minutes, or a trend for the lastninety minutes.

In another embodiment, the receiver might respond to a user touchscreengesture without using a visual display, but instead use vibrations tocommunicate glucose information. For example, to communicate a specificglucose reading, a series of short vibrations may be used to communicateeach digit, while a longer vibration may signify a change in the digits.As one example, to communicate 135 mg/dL, the following vibrations mighttake place:

1 short vibration followed by 1 long vibration

3 short vibrations followed by 1 long vibration

5 short vibrations followed by 1 long vibration

In addition to communicating single numbers, a vibration length may alsocommunicate glucose trends or rises and falls in glucose levels. Forexample, an increasing glucose may be communicated by outputting aseries of vibrations with increased length. Conversely, falling glucosemay be communicated by having a series of decreasing length vibrations.Using touchscreen gestures and/or vibrations may aid a user inunderstanding glucose information without looking at the receiverdisplay or for communicating glucose information to the visuallyimpaired.

SUMMARY

All of the processes described above may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalcomputing devices, including mobile computing devices. The code modulesmay be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computerstorage device. Some of all of the methods may alternatively be embodiedin specialized computer hardware. In addition, the components referredto herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode that include one or more executable instruction for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

The software, data, and/or components described above may be stored on acomputer readable medium and loaded into memory of a computer deviceincluding downloading, using a drive mechanism associated with acomputer readable medium that stores the data, such as a flash drive,CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, network interface or the like. Further, the componentand/or data can be included in a single device or distributed in anymanner.

The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention.It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed theforegoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways.As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particularterminology when describing certain features or aspects of the inventionshould not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-definedherein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of thefeatures or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated.

It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps in anydisclosed process is an example of a sample approach. Based upon designpreferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy ofsteps in the processes may be rearranged while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure. The accompanying method claims presentelements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to belimited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

Various modifications to the implementations described in thisdisclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and thegeneric principles defined herein may be applied to otherimplementations without departing from the spirit or scope of thisdisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to theimplementations shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the claims, the principles and the novel featuresdisclosed herein. The word “exemplary” is used exclusively herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Anyimplementation described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other implementations.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate implementations also can be implemented in combination in asingle implementation. Conversely, various features that are describedin the context of a single implementation also can be implemented inmultiple implementations separately or in any suitable sub-combination.Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the implementations described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products. Additionally, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method for displaying glucose information to auser using a hand-held computing device, comprising: displaying on atouch-sensitive display of a computing device a glucose chart includinga trend line indicative of a glucose level of a host over a first timeperiod; displaying one or more event indicators on the chart, each eventindicator positioned on the chart to indicate when an associated eventoccurred in time; and changing the time period of the chart from thefirst time period to a second, different time period, wherein changingthe time period causes the event indicators to move on the chart so thatthe event tags continue to indicate when the associated event occurredin time.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein changing the time periodcomprises receiving user input indicative of a request to change thetime period.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the associated event isselected from the group consisting of food, insulin, exercise, sleep,and illness.
 24. A method for displaying glucose information to a userusing a hand-held computing device, comprising: displaying on atouch-sensitive display of a computing device a glucose chart includinga trend line indicative of a glucose level of a host over a first timeperiod; displaying one or more event indicators on the chart, each eventindicator positioned on the chart to indicate when an associated eventoccurred in time; and adding an indicator to the chart in response tothe computing device detecting a predefined user input.
 25. The methodof claim 24, wherein the predefined user input comprises touching aselected portion of the glucose chart.
 26. The method of claim 24,wherein the associated event is selected from the group consisting offood, insulin, exercise, sleep, and illness.
 27. A method for displayingglucose information to a user using a hand-held computing device,comprising: displaying on a touch-sensitive display of a computingdevice a glucose chart including a trend line indicative of a glucoselevel of a host over a first time period; displaying one or more eventindicators on the chart, each event indicator positioned on the chart toindicate when an associated event occurred in time; and detecting a userselection of at least one of the one or more event indicators, anddisplaying further information on the display associated with theselected at least one event indicator.
 28. The method of claim 27,wherein detecting the user selection comprises detecting a user-touch ofthe at least one event indicator on the display.
 29. The method of claim27, wherein the additional information is displayed in a pop-up window.30. The method of claim 27, wherein the associated event is selectedfrom the group consisting of food, insulin, exercise, sleep, andillness.